Government sets up an expert group for artificial intelligence policy

A seven point strategy was recently drawn up by the Government for India’s tactical plan in order to use artificial intelligence.

The Ministry of electronics and information technology has recently set up an internal committee to advice on the policy on artificial intelligence. The Union ministry set up the committee in order to seek suggestions on the policy. The expert committee will advise the ministry of IT on the best technologies for India. The main focus of the government is the reduction of cyber-attacks with the use of artificial intelligence. This policy will be drawn up once the committee submits its report, which is expected to be given soon.

In order to ensure that AI is properly leveraged, the government wants to make the most of the technology and form a policy on the same. Every time the government has consulted with the top technology companies, the biggest involvement has been with AI. Senior officials from the Union home and finance ministries are also a part of the committee and involved in the consultations regarding the same. Currently AI is seen as a major challenge for the generation of employment as many companies are likely to be heavily dependent on it in order to cut down on human resources and save cost. AI will help replace the manual work with automated machines and save on the time, cost and efforts. IT companies are expected to be highly dependent on AI in the coming years.

The market for AI is estimated to touch $153 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow at an annual compounded rate of 45.4% between 2016 to 2022. The recently drawn up strategy by the government aims to develop methods for human machine interactions, creating a competent workforce in line with artificial intelligence and R&D needs, ensuring safety and security of AI systems, understanding and addressing the ethical, legal and societal implications of AI, and the measurement and evaluation of AI technologies through standards and benchmarks.

AI can benefit various industries across the country as well as various government agencies in their functioning. At the same time, it is important to ensure that an indigenous workforce is created in order to develop AI. There is an increasing interest in AI globally as well. In 2016, the White House had initiated work for the preparation for the future of artificial intelligence. In UK, the House of Commons committee on S&T looked at artificial intelligence and robotics. Further, the State Council of China has also started work on the next generation of artificial intelligence development plan.

India is gearing up for the big technological move for the adoption of AI across various government agencies as well as corporations. AI is expected to have significant impact on the economy as well as the rate of employment across the country. In order to make the most of this technology, the government has set up a committee which will provide suggestions for the development of the policy.